a model world

i've been reading michael chabon's a model world and other short stories. i was first drawn to it because i loved the amazing adventures of kavalier & clay, and the collection begins with a quote from elizabeth bishop, my favorite poet: "more delicate than the historians' are the map makers' colors." it's one of the few new books that i've ever bought, being generally a used-books gal.

it's divided into two halves: the first being a small collection of stories, "the model world," pretty much unrelated to each other; and the second being a collection that almost works as a novella, "the lost world." i liked "the model world" okay, didn't love it, didn't hate it. "the lost world," however, i loved. it's about a little boy, nathan, and his view of the world as his parents are going through a divorce and beginning to date others. he ages a few years or so between each short. what i loved about this series was that even though it was about a child and told in large parts through his eyes, it was sophisticated and treated the child as a human being with feelings and thoughts of his own. it wasn't condescending just because he was young.

children's stories written for adults is actually the genre where i found my voice when i wrote in college. i guess what struck me about reading this is that it has, in a small way, inspired me to write again. after reading some of it last night, i'm sitting here blogging, not just this entry but another on my other blog. yes, it's informal writing, but it's writing nonetheless. it's more writing that i normally do nowadays. and actually, since i've embarked on a relationship with someone love deeply, i haven't really been reading as much as i used to. i was able to find time to read last night because i slept alone, neither of us able to make it to the other's because of my cold and his exhaustion from a long day at work. before dating, i always read in bed before falling asleep. i have to work harder on finding time to read, something i miss dearly even though the reason i miss it has made me happier.